ALAVEZ, FRANCITA

ALAVEZ, FRANCITA (?–?). Francita Alavez, the "Angel of Goliad," accompanied Capt. Telesforo Alavez to Texas in March 1836. Her first name is variously given as Francita, Francisca, Panchita, or Pancheta, and her surname as Alavez, Alvárez, or Alevesco. Her real surname and place of birth are not known. Some writers claim that she was with Gen. José de Urrea's army at San Patricio, but this is highly unlikely since Captain Alavez came by ship from Matamoros to Copano Bay. Because Francita was with Captain Alavez in Texas, it was long assumed that she was his wife. However, research carried out in 1935 by Marjorie Rogers revealed that the army officer's legitimate wife was María Augustina de Pozo, who was abandoned by Alavez in 1834.

Francita was at Copano Bay when Maj. William P. Miller's Natchez volunteers were held prisoner there by General Urrea's troops. She noticed that the men were tightly bound with cords that restricted the circulation of blood in their arms. Taking pity on the men, she persuaded the Mexican soldiers to loosen their bonds and to give them food.

From Copano Bay she went with Alavez to Goliad and was there at the time of the Goliad Massacre. She is credited with persuading the officer in charge of the fortress not to execute Miller's men, who had been brought from Copano to Goliad. In addition, it is believed that Francita entered the fort the evening before the massacre and brought out several men and hid them, thereby saving their lives. Francita and Captain Alavez proceeded to Victoria, where she continued to aid the Texans held prisoner at Goliad by sending them messages and provisions. When the Mexicans retreated from Texas after Santa Anna's defeat at San Jacinto, Francita followed Captain Alavez to Matamoros, where she aided the Texans held prisoner there. From that town she was taken by Alavez to Mexico City and there abandoned. She returned to Matamoros penniless, but was befriended by Texans who had heard of her humanitarian acts on behalf of Texans captured by the Mexican army.

Dr. Joseph Barnard and Dr. John Shackelford,qqv two of the Goliad prisoners spared by the Mexicans, later testified to Francita's saintly behavior, thus causing her deeds to be more widely known. She came to be called the Angel of Goliad and gained recognition as a heroine of the Texas Revolution.